New Delhi: Several MPs from various parties have skipped the Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings after they were reconstituted in September last year to deliberate on various subjects, including Bills to be presented in Parliament during 2024-25, according to the data on the Lok Sabha website.
After the reconstitution of 16 standing committees of the Lower House, on an average, nearly 60 per cent members were present in the meeting of various committees, the data showed.
The Standing Committee of Parliament consists of 31 members from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in which 21 are from the Lower House and 10 from the Upper house.
On an average, nearly 40 per cent of members were absent in the meetings of more than a dozen standing committees of the Lok Sabha.
In almost every session of Parliament, the demand is raised by more or less all the parties that before introducing the Bills involving various important subjects, they should be referred to the committee concerned for thorough and serious deliberations.
In the meeting of the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of External Affairs on May 20 this year, only 13 members were present, while on May 11 meeting, 18 members were present when the committee adopted the report of Demand for Grants for 2025-26.
On May 19, 24 members were present in the meeting held for briefing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on the current foreign policy development regarding India-Pakistan tensions.
According to the data, only 16 members attended the meeting of the Standing Committee attached to the ministries of agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing on April 25 on the subject of protection and development of indigenous cattle breed, and 22 members were present in the meeting of the same committee held on March 18 on the fisheries sector.
The meeting attached to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers on May 9 was attended by only 15 members on the subject of matter pertaining to disinvestment of fertiliser PSUs. While 16 members attended the meeting of January 7 on the subject of price rise of medicines.
The meeting of the Standing committee attached to the Ministry of Coal, Mines and Steel on May 8 was attended by only 15 members on the subject of steel scrap policy.
According to the data, only 15 members attended the meeting of the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of Defence on May 28 on the subject “A review of resettlement policies, healthcare for ex-servicemen”.
The meeting of the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on May 7 on the subject of a review of mechanisms to curb fake news was attended by only 15 members.
Only 24 members attended the meeting of the Standing Committee of Railways held on April 23 on the subject of optimum utilisation of railway land, while only 12 members were present in the meeting on March 7.
The meeting of the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj held on May 16 on the subject of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana had only 12 members in attendance.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla last year noted that parliamentary committees play a vital role in shaping laws and policies in the present perspective. Parliamentary committees are actually ‘mini Parliaments’ and they review these laws, policies and programmes on behalf of Parliament and make them more useful to the public, he added.
